Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - God puts us in impossible situations so that we may see what He can do. Jos 3:12- 4:22.

Title: Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - God puts us in impossible situations so that we may see what He can do. JOS 3:12- 4:22.  

 

Announcements / opening prayer:

 

 

At the parallel of Jericho at this time of year, the center of the river is 10-12 feet deep and the current is very strong. In the late summer when the level is low one can wade across without too much difficulty, but at this time in the spring, just after the rainy season and the snows of Mt. Hermon have melted, the Sea of Galilee is at its height and the Jordan empties into the Dead Sea with its greatest volume of water.

 

At this time of year the river is at its highest. God always chooses the opportune time and the opportune season to tell us to go forward.

 

These times may look like the most dangerous to us and so stirs fear within us, but it is the impossibility of it all that is the point. That is the race that has been graciously set before you. With man this is impossible but with God all things are possible. If the narrative was that they crossed over a tiny steam that was 2 feet wide and 3 inches deep the community of believers wouldn't be studying this passage and having it encourage them to press on with the omnipotence of God within.

 

These times may look like  the most dangerous to us and so stirs fear within us, but it is the impossibility of it all that is the point.

 

Crossing at this season was regarded as a very extraordinary feat in ancient times, so that it is mentioned in 1CH 12:15 as a heroic act on the part of the brave Gadites who were of the company of David's mighty men.

 

1CH 12:14-15

These of the sons of Gad were captains of the army; he who was least was equal to a hundred and the greatest to a thousand. These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month when it was overflowing all its banks and they put to flight all those in the valleys, both to the east and to the west.

 

It may possibly have been in this way that the spies crossed and re-crossed the river a few days before. But that was altogether impossible for the people of Israel with their wives and children.

 

What often may look on the surface as God bragging, and why shouldn't He, is actually a call to confidence in Him as any child would have in a parent, knowing how big and strong they are.

 

The ark would sit in the middle of the river, holding back a wall of water weighing millions of pounds while the priests stood by it and there it would sit until the entire camp passed across on a dry river bed, 0.57 miles south of the ark, only seeing its golden glimmer in the sun. If they had truly consecrated their minds to keep their eyes on Jehovah, the One who has power over all the earth, and not so much on the earth itself, the coming journey, the worries of the trip, etc. this event would have been life changing as well as spiritually changing. For those who rejected the idea that they should set their eyes solely on Jehovah and instead set their minds upon the details of the trip, the time it was taking, the mass of people, the burden of travel, etc. this experience would have meant nothing other than aggravation and the blessing of it would have completely and utterly passed them by.

 

I personally think that we miss so much that God is doing for us each day. We must be alert to keep our eyes set upon Him.

 

They had to pass over quickly as the priests were to stand by the ark the entire time - no small feat J. (12 hours)

 

The crossing had to be completed by sundown and we can imaging that it took about twelve hours. Sunrise at this time is at about 6 am and sunset around 8 pm.

 

JOS 3:12 Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe.

 

These twelve men were to be appointed by the people, one from each tribe, who would be representatives of the tribes and will be called upon to each take a stone from the middle of the river in order to build an altar that would be a memorial to their crossing.

 

JOS 3:13 And it shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above shall stand in one heap."

 

The same phrase was used in the song of Moses in describing the parting of the Red Sea right after they crossed.

 

EXO 15:8

"And at the blast of Thy nostrils the waters were piled up,

The flowing waters stood up like a heap;

The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.

 

The execution of the crossing:

 

JOS 3:14 So it came about when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,

 

JOS 3:15 and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest) [spring],

 

JOS 3:16 that the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho.

 

JOS 3:17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.

 

The water is overflowing its banks, but as soon as the priests set their feet in the water the flow stops and they can safely walk out to the middle of the river.

 

One often fails to think of those who might have been just south of this event who would have noticed something quite peculiar - no water in the Jordan and it's springtime.

 

All explanations on how this might have been a natural occurrence have all come up short - the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of the harvest.

 

You can picture the people being about a mile in breadth and crossing in a straight line. What a sight. Soldiers, men, women, children, and all their livestock, their goods and tents all packed upon carts and in trunks all lumbering across a road that God just created that day. The ark is at their right and the land promised to their father Abraham is just about a hundred yards away. I'm sure the mood was festive and celebratory even though the work was strenuous.

 

Victory in God is always a beautiful and inspiring site. Having seen it one cannot wait to see it again.

 

Those who think that victory in life is always of their own doing completely miss this.

 

JER 17:5-6

"Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind

And makes flesh his strength,

And whose heart turns away from the Lord.

"For he will be like a bush in the desert

And will not see when prosperity comes,

But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,

A land of salt without inhabitant.

 

"Time lost can never be retrieved. Time cannot be hoarded, only spent well." [Oswald Chambers]

 

EPH 5:15-16

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

 

JOS 4:1 Now it came about when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

 

JOS 4:2 "Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe,

 

JOS 4:3 and command them, saying,' Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.'"

 

JOS 4:4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe;

 

JOS 4:5 and Joshua said to them, "Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

 

JOS 4:6 Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?'

 

JOS 4:7 then you shall say to them,' Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.' So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever."

 

It is stated that the people crossed and then the command from God is reiterated for the narrative. This does not imply that God gave the command after they finished crossing since we know that He already commanded Joshua to have the people of each tribe elect a representative.

 

They were each to get a stone from the middle of the Jordan, near where the priests were standing and take them back to the camp.

 

These stones would be constructed into an altar by Joshua when they get to Gilgal. We must never forget all that God has done.

 

At Gilgal, about three miles northeast of Jericho they will set up camp, circumcise the uncircumcised males, and celebrate the Passover. From there they will launch their military attack upon Jericho.

 

These stones signifying all twelve tribes, the sons of Jacob, will be a testimony to the crossing and God fulfilling His promise.

 

It is healthy from time to time to reflect on how God has been faithful to us in the past. And also of the times that we have relied on ourselves alone and the failures that it created. This is not to live in the past, but from time to time reflect.

 

This was done so that subsequent generations who would be tempted into worshipping false gods would be reminded of the power and faithfulness of the one true living God.

 

This pile of stones serves as a very simple monument. It is not a graven image of Joshua or some other work of art done by the hands of men but stones created by God that were polished by the rushing water of the Jordan, which God also created.

 

The monument was not made by human hands, but raw, uncut stones - God completes the work always without human help.

 

As with the altar they would build to sacrifice the burnt offering on Mt. Ebal:

 

JOS 8:30 Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal,

 

JOS 8:31 just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones, on which no man had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings.

 

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JOS 4:8 And thus the sons of Israel did, as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the Lord spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging place, and put them down there.

 

We see the recurring pattern: God gives the command to Joshua who in turn gives it to the people and in obedience they execute it.

 

Verse eight describes the twelve representatives as the sons of Israel because they represent all the people. It is as if all of Israel participated.

 

This brings up a simple truth. If anyone has a position of authority in a local church, no matter how seemingly insignificant, they represent all the people of that assembly, and that, everywhere they go.

 

JOS 4:9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.

 

This seems out of place, but there is no reason to think it is a later addition as some so-called scholars believe. We do not read that God commanded him to do this. That doesn't mean that God didn't, we simply do not know. Certainly it wouldn't be out of line for Joshua to do this out of his own initiative. Secondly, once the water returned these stones would have been washed away and definitely would not be seen, unless he piled them up on the bank, but it seems that the priests stood with the ark in the middle. The Hebrew word used for their location means either in the midst or in the middle.

 

So why pile up stones as a monument that will get washed away and which no one will see?

 

No one can answer for sure, but I'll offer one idea. When someone saw the twelve stones in Gilgal and asked someone why they were there, they would be told what they represent and that Joshua had put twelve similar stones in the middle of the Jordan where the ark stood. All who knew this knew that the stones were in there somewhere and would always be there. If they saw a stone on the bank of the river or fished one out of the river there was always the possibility that that was one of Joshua's stones. No enemy could steal them, vandalize them, or desecrate them, as was likely done to the stones at Gilgal, since no one knew where they were. Those stones are still in there to this day and anyone standing on the bank of the Jordan, on either side, in the vicinity of the parallel of Jericho, would have to wonder where they were and be reminded of the miracle that God did in order to provide a highway for His people to cross the Jordan into the land that He promised to Abraham over 400 years earlier.

 

Joshua put a monument in the river so that no one could ever take them or vandalize them. The river knocked them over, but they are still in the general vicinity, always serving as a memorial to God's power and faithfulness.

 

The stones laid at Gilgal are gone. No one knows where they are, but the stones in the Jordan are still there. 

 

JOS 4:10 For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. And the people hurried and crossed;